Long story short, I was prescribed adderall in July after being diagnosed with ADHD. I'm a 21-year old college student, 5'10", ~183, pretty active (run 3-4 times a week. I'm also out of state, from PA but go to school in CA. Was diagnosed back home in PA, I worked my way up from 5 mg IR for two days to 10 mg for two until eventually I got to my first day of 15. It was going AWESOME. I understood and retained what I read, making me feel great since ADHD caused me such academic woes until being diagnosed. I thought I found my cure, until, while reading my business law book.(1.5 hours after the medication kicked in), I experienced the worst panic attack of my life. Chest pressure, dizzy, etc. Stopped until September 23, when fall quarter began. I titrated up from 10mg for two days to 15mg for two days and 20mg for about a week until I saw my doctor and he gave the ok to do 20mg twice a day.

However, a whole host of symptoms began. On the bright side, one of my main academic issues was somewhat solved. I’m a second-year out of state student with a 3.96 GPA, but boy last year was hell. I didn’t learn anything, and reading a page of a book was a nightmare. However, it wasn’t hell like the symptoms I’ve been experiencing. I was never anxious before being prescribed and only had a panic attack once before that in March ’13, when I idiotically drank a Red Bull at midnight after drinking a coffee and taking a 200mg caffeine pre-workout earlier that day.

Anyway, I began doubling my 20mg Adderall on October 3, 2013. The first dose was promising- not the feeling the 15mg in July gave me, but no negative symptoms. The second dose was hell. I was at the library, went to my car to take the second dose of 20, and walking back up my heart rate was through the roof, I was lightheaded and couldn’t wait to sit down. I constantly drink water and fidget when I studied. Scenario of the positive aspects: I took 20 at 11 AM and 4 PM usually and it took 20-30 minutes to kick in. I zoned out less and was really persistent with learning. I stopped looking at the clock because I was engaged with learning. Those, however, are where the positives end. The negatives are horrendous. This past Friday, for example, I masturbated, and right after climaxing my eyes kind of rolled back, I had immense head pressure, began hyperventilating, was extremely anxious, dizzy, lightheaded, disoriented. I went to the ER and my heart rate was 120+ and BP was 150/90+. Two days before at the doctor’s office, BP was 114/68 with an RHR around 60. However, the machines at pharmacies keep telling me I have prehypertension or hypertension? So I was discharged from the ER, watched a TV show, and decided to go to bed. Then I began shaking violently and my teeth were grinding. I wasn’t cold at all. Called the doc, went to the ER. More than likely a massive panic attack. Originally, the doc said to titrate down, but then told me to stop cold turkey.

I was only on it for two weeks, but yesterday and today were awful. I went to bed on Saturday after the ER (and 24 hours of no sleep) and slept until 5 PM. I felt like hell and was really moody and irritable and depressed. Then today I felt the same way, very irritable and nervous, and just angry at the SLIGHTEST things. Not myself at all. I went to the coffee shop to study (or at least try to), and couldn’t. Every time I tried I became anxious. Even writing this right now is hard. My head then began shaking and I felt weak and irritable. It freaked me out and I kept feeling like I was gonna pass out. I also suffered from extreme fatigue. Also, tonight after masturbating, same thing, even though I’m not on the med.

Is Adderall not right for me- was the dose too high? Maybe it’s the fact that I’m taking 22 units, but I don’t think so. I’m seeing my doc tomorrow morning and really want to see what he says. I will fail academically without the medication but don’t want to risk anything. I just don’t know what to do… I just want to be non-medicated self again with my ADHD addressed and panic attack free…

SYMPTOMS:

Negative:

-Feeling of pressure in my chest.
-On the 20, felt a little bit overmedicated, but it seems to actually work better.
-Chest tingles, serious anxiety.
-Basically when I’m reading, I get these “jolts” within 30-45 minutes of taking it, which go away.
-Yesterday when I took the 20, and other days when I took the 15, I noticed that if I took the dose at 11 AM (my normal time), I have a little bit of anxiety that again is short, but comes back when the medication is ending. Then, at my 6:30 PM math class, I begin to FREAKINGLY hyperventilate. I lose focus, which ****** me off because I want to learn.
-Less aware driving.
-Works differently with meal timing.
-Shaking head.
-When I masturbate, high anxiety.
-Cheek pulsate, leg shake.
-BP readings are inconsistent, pulse rate in 100's on med.

Positive:

-Can focus more. (BIG deal)
-Even though not as much as originally, it does help when it’s in me.
-Less distracted, don’t read and forget, can sit still better.
-Feel better overall.
-Much less fatigued.
-ECG and EKG all good, not heart-related.

The drug is supposed to bring you down. All the side effects you stated is basically me not on the drug. I need to the drug to be calm, to act calm, to not find and generate the outrage in things and have constant panic attacks in my mind.

Eat on a regular basis, and it seems like when you're dosing that you probably overthink it. Why would that happen? Because we tend to over think everything, always checking pulse and very anxious. I rarely get Anxiety from Adderall, only when it starts to wear off. Before I was diagnosed I had anxiety like a nightmare. I thought I was going to die everyday! If you get dizzy, panic, and tight chest ETC. its just not worth it. And that's different that you've never had any anxiety really until the Adderall. You should talk to your doctor and get a professional directive. IMO though if all these symptoms are happening your dose is too high. Usually a person starts at 5mg IR and slowly moves up, you might have upped the dose too fast. Especially for a stimulant your body isn't used to. Best of luck! Hope you can correct your issues to where your comfortable.

Alright, so for the past three days (Tue, Wed, Thurs) I only got 5 hours of sleep a night max. I took 15 IR either twice or three times a day and it worked so inconsistently. The only major thing I noticed definitely occurred was fatigue reduction- it didn't improve my focus by much if anything, but kept me awake. Also when I'd take my second or third dose, I'd just start getting disoriented. I had to walk slowly in order to not get dizzy. Food intake has been good, I use MFP to track everything, and if I don't feel like eating I have a protein bar or Naked shake so I can eat quickly. It's just not giving me the initial feel it had in July before my first panic attack: clear mind, focus, letting me capitalize on my initiative, able to tune usually distracting things (loud breathing, mouse clicking, whispering) out when I tried to study.

Eat on a regular basis, and it seems like when you're dosing that you probably overthink it. Why would that happen? Because we tend to over think everything, always checking pulse and very anxious. I rarely get Anxiety from Adderall, only when it starts to wear off. Before I was diagnosed I had anxiety like a nightmare. I thought I was going to die everyday! If you get dizzy, panic, and tight chest ETC. its just not worth it. And that's different that you've never had any anxiety really until the Adderall. You should talk to your doctor and get a professional directive. IMO though if all these symptoms are happening your dose is too high. Usually a person starts at 5mg IR and slowly moves up, you might have upped the dose too fast. Especially for a stimulant your body isn't used to. Best of luck! Hope you can correct your issues to where your comfortable.

I never had anxiety before being diagnosed. The only time I ever had a panic attack before was when I think my total caffeine intake for one day was somewhere near 500mg and I drank a Red Bull at midnight. I go to bed sometimes shaky, get cotial cephalagia after masturbation, have had inconsistent BP readings when I'm usually PERFECT, have crazy ear pressure sometimes like it's stinging, my throat feels like the left side is clogged, and I have a lot of pressure in my head it feels like it's full or bleeding. Yesterday and today especially were hell on my mood. I went to the library in an attempt to study and just get in a rage. 20mg IR gave me pretty bad symptoms like shaking and going to the ER, I stopped for two days, and had such awful withdrawal that I lowered it to 15mg. It addressed the withdrawal but now I'm just pissy and unmotivated. I don't want to sleep like I did when I had withdrawal, I just want to be able to focus on 20 pages of a basic textbook. I have been reading the same pages of my accounting book for over a WEEK. It's a 20 page chapter, relatively understandable read, and I can't focus. I keep going on my iPhone even when I turn it off and anyone breathing loud or even drinking water around me ****** me off. Really irritable. Driving back home from the library I had the biggest desire to just pound on my horn. I have NO obligations outside of school- my college is paid for, my car is paid for, my apartment is paid for, I don't work. School is my work, my 9-5, and I can't even get one hour of focus into it. I've looked up the definiton of the accrual basis of accounting at least 50 times and I still can't tell you what it is. With the 20 I was at least much more persistent when I didn't understand, now I'm just mad. I'm taking 22.5 units this quarter, have a 3.96 GPA, am trying to transfer to my dream school, and am a mess right now.

I just witnessed my full-on ADHD self. After taking 15mg IR an hour ago and cleaning my apartment in the time that it normally takes to kick in (anywhere from 20 mins to an hour), I found myself pacing around my apartment, hesitant to even start work. Cars driving past my apartment annoy me. This is what I need to resolve- I want that motivation, calm, and clear mind I had when I originally took the medication in July. Bump, anyone?